Not A Kiss For His Worries
by PlatinumViola
Summary: A one-shot companion to Not A Penny For Her Troubles. Percabeth from Percy's perspective, due to request. Set in BoL. Percy had always struggled with his dyslexia, but who knew it got worse when it came to reading girls?


**A side-by-side with my one-shot Not A Penny For Her Troubles. I got a few requests for one from Percy's perspective, and a couple fantabulous reviews, so here it is! Percabeth in Percy's eyes, thrown together in half an hour. My apologies if it isn't as good as the first.**

Percy wouldn't really say he was _smart_, but one of the troubles of growing up was the fact that he had another subject to worry about: Girls. He'd never have believed it a couple years ago, that this thing was actually harder to understand than algebra – that girls were even harder to read than size 11 font in French Script... with his dyslexia of course. Unfortunately, unlike other demigod boys, Percy was noticing that his dyslexia stretched to this subject as well.

So when Annabeth walks toward him one morning, with a swing in her step, looking especially in a good mood after her win yesterday in Capture the Flag, Percy doesn't know exactly how to act. He couldn't deny that Annabeth's curls were much better at holding his attention than her descriptions of the most fascinating pieces of architecture ever. And lately his heart was beating out inconsistent rhythms whenever they just sat next to each other on the beach.

I mean, Percy wasn't _completely_ out of the loop. Gosh, you'd think he didn't know what a crush was. A crush... the word makes his face pink almost immediately. He'd always been on the shy side after all.

Sometimes, Annabeth shot him a weird look when he said something, and he'd always freak out on the inside, thinking that he'd messed something up. Or other times, it was more of a thoughtful look, as if he were a highly interesting specimen, and he couldn't help but squirm underneath her twin grey microscopes.

It was ridiculous really. It was still easy to hang out with her, but he couldn't deny the tension that always felt omnipresent lately. As if she's waiting for him to do something that he doesn't quite know anything about. Or maybe he's waiting for her to do something. No, that would be the easy way out.

Still, as he walks next to Annabeth, only partially listening to her bragging about her successful plan in last night's game – teasing him about his own loss, he can't help but focus on the little things. Like how her grey eyes turned a little bit blue when she was happy, and how they'd almost go black when they got into an argument. How her lips were eternally pink, even though he'd never seen her once apply gloss.

Annabeth switches topics easily to next week's summer formal, hurriedly brushing back a curl that had gone loose from her ponytail, and he notices that her tone is a little bit expectant – and her eyes are waiting for something that they say should be really obvious. Percy wants to ask her why she's staring at him that way while she talks, but he doesn't because he doesn't want to feel dumb all over again. So she continues, relaying her woes with the Aphrodite cabin and a few cases of brightly colored makeup, and how she honestly wished some couples would quit making out during the dance. He's only half-listening, watching the way her hair is changing colours in the sun, so when she pulls the question, the meaning doesn't sink in.

"Who are you going to the formal with, Percy?"

For a couple seconds longer he keeps staring at that lighter streak close to her bangs, how he had watched it go from gold to neon yellow when Annabeth had angled her head to meet his eyes.

"What?"

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "The formal, Percy. What we've been talking about for the past five minutes?"

He wants to point out that _she_ had been doing most of the talking, but he clears his throat and manages an, "Oh."

He swallows uncertainly, then says more as a question than a statement, "I still need to ask someone?"

"Well, then," Annabeth huffs impatiently, "who are you going to ask?"

Oh, goodness. This was the question his mind had been bugging him about for the whole month. Should he just go alone? Are you even _allowed_ to go to the formal alone? "I don't know," Percy finally admits. "Who should I ask?"

Annabeth rolls her eyes again, and Percy can't help but feel a sense of déjà vu when she says, "Me, of course."

He focuses on her lips, raking through his memories of why this moment feels like something he'd been in before. "Last year!" he exclaims suddenly, his voice just a little too loud. "We went through this when we went on that quest to save Artemis. In that school dance, you remember? You told me to ask you."

Annabeth sighs, and can't help but wonder exactly why her intelligence wants to date someone so slow at times. "Yes, Percy," she says in exaggerated slowness. "We've been through this before."

He nods thankfully, as if her affirmation was a compliment. They both stand there, the girl waiting impatiently for their conversation to get back on course, the boy revelling in the fact that a daughter of Athena had just agreed with him.

Annabeth gets sick of waiting first. "Um, Percy? Our conversation?"

"Right," says Percy with a start. "Wait – what...? Oh, yeah." He shifts uncomfortable to his other foot and whispers, "Annabeth, will you go to the spring formal with me?"

"_Summer_ formal, Percy. And yes."

Percy lets out an entirely too audible sigh of relief.

Annabeth can't help but laugh. "Was it really that hard, Percy?"

He stares at her like he can't believe she's asked a question with an answer so obvious to him. "Yeah, Annabeth. I'd like to see how well _you_ can read minds. Sometimes, you're even worse than the flowery script at Aunty Em's Garden Emporium."

She shakes her head, and it's one burden off Percy's mind as they continue walking down the beach, their hands close enough to be brushing. Asking her to the dances never lose their ironic novelty. He only wishes he'd get a kiss one day from those lips.

And he can only guess how he'll get around the Winter Gala this year.

Sometimes he just plain wishes he were a child of Aphrodite.

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! So are author/story favourites/alerts!**


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